The Unforgiven
by AllyPally2
Summary: Sequel to 'Back To Where I was Before'. An unwelcome visitor, causes a trail of disruption, which draws the attention of the seven. But it seems that this stranger is not a stranger at all to one of the town's most recent residents. Sorry, awful blurb description, but I hope you enjoy. Rated M just to be on the safe side, and as always reviews are welcome. Vin/Chris/OC


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Magnificent Seven, at all. The only character that I have created myself in this story is Amy, and any resemblance to persons living/dead/real or fictional is unintended.

Right, now that's out of the way, let's crack on shall we? As a quick beforehand note, I'd just like to point out that this story is a LONG coming sequel in a series of Mag7 fanfics I have written including my own character, Amy Duke. For any of you who find yourself reading this and haven't read my two prequel stories to this ("Blurry", followed by "Back To Where I Was Before") then I recommend you read those first. Of course, this story will probably make sense in the most part to you if you haven't read either of my previous ones first, but I think it will help you to understand more. And for any readers who have read my previous stories, thank you so much for continuing with my writing. It's been a while, so I'm not expecting many of you to have followed on with me, but any who have, I am extremely grateful! Okay, I will shut up now, and carry on with what you actually clicked on this for, a story. Enjoy.

**The Unforgiven**

"And, once again my inauspicious associates, the Aces have it!"

Ezra let out a yelp of joy as he leaned forwards to scoop his winnings towards his seat on the table,

"Any of you fine squires desire an opportunity to recoup your finances?"

The grin on his face quickly disappeared as he noticed the angry expressions held by the three men seated opposite him, "Perhaps not then…"

He tipped his hat to the unhappy gamblers, and quickly excused himself away from the table, making sure not to leave a penny of his recently acquired fortune behind. Advancing on the table closest to the bar, he muttered to himself as he reached his friends,

"Contenders persistently withdraw after the third round."

Pushing Vin's crossed feet off from the empty seat at the table the gambler sat down, with a hopeful smile on his face,

"Perhaps one of you fearless dignitaries would care to illustrate to those cowards over there just how to succeed at the art of poker?"

He was met with a series of disbelieving looks, and one disgruntled, which he had earned from Vin as a result of disturbing him. Nathan was the only one to dignify the gambler's question with an answer,

"Now what on earth would make you think any of us were fool enough to forget that you don't play fair?"

A huge grin formed on the healer's face as he watched an expression of indignation form on Ezra's face at the accusation of cheating; and leaning forward, Nathan spoke again before the gambler could,

"Besides, reckon by the amount a' money you robbed them poor men of, next rounds on you Ez."

The resentful expression on Ezra's face only grew at this comment, causing the rest of the party gathered to smile. But once again before the man could utter any words of denial, Vin had jumped out of his seat and swiped a few crisp notes from the gambler's hand.

"Much obliged Ez," the tracker, nodded his hat at the seated man, before swiftly heading towards the bar.

"Why, the fanciful audacity!" Ezra stared at Vin as he walked away, before turning to face Nathan, "And I would certainly not swindle you upstanding kinsmen," his mock innocence wore away to form into a chuckle as he looked down, shuffling cards, "There would be no requisite to employ such tricks."

Vin watched as the others chuckled around the table, smiling to himself. As he waited for Inez to finish serving a gaggle of slightly drunk customers, he noticed the saloon door open a crack from the corner of his eye. His smile grew a little wider as he noticed the small figure sliding discreetly through the doors.

'_Not discreetly enough'_ he thought to himself.

Although he never fully looked at her, he soaked in the sight of her from his outstanding peripheral vision. She was dressed in slightly better fitting clothes than she had been the last time he had seen her, although the black shirt was clearly still more than a few sizes too large for her. She had rolled up the sleeves, her pale skin making an ivory contrast to the dark shirt. She had taken care not to roll up her sleeves too high, but with his eagle eye Vin could notice the very edge of the bandage peeking through under the lifted sleeve on her right arm. He had to admit, that the shirt didn't look so ridiculous now as it had when he had witnessed her buying it; the way that she had tucked it into slim fitting trousers somehow balanced out the ridiculous baggy quality of the top, somehow making her look skinnier than she was. Her hat was not on her head as she entered the saloon, but as she grew closer Vin noticed the string resting against her throat, providing the information that the large rimmed brown hat was balanced on her back. Her hair looked considerably shorter he noticed, where it had previously reached down to just about her waist, it now fell to just past her shoulders. He mentally nodded his approval, her new hairstyle suited her, somehow it made her fiery golden locks look thicker, and her face younger, but couldn't help but wonder what had caused the change. He could sense she was almost at the bar near him now, and smiled as her hands finally appeared into his frontal vision, placed before her onto the surface of the bar.

"Am I too late to scrounge onta' your tab?" She widened her eyes into a 'Bambi' like state as she looked over at him. Vin chuckled, shaking his head, before jabbing his thumb over his shoulder,

"Pick your poison, round's on Ezra."

Following the direction of his pointing she laughed,

"Well in that case make my whiskey a double."

As Vin signalled to Inez about his order, Amy noticed his eyes dart to behind her, and away again just as quick, a bigger grin forming on the tracker's face. At the same instant a shadow formed in front of Amy over the bar. Rolling her eyes, she didn't even turn around as she spoke,

"Evenin' Buck…"

"Why, Miss Amy, your detective skills are fine enough to match your beauty. Well, almost."

Amy could hear the wicked smile filling Buck's face as he delivered the lines that had no doubt been used many times before. Just as she was about to turn around to face Buck, Vin slid her shot towards her. Flashing a grateful smile she picked up the small glass and emptied the liquid immediately into her mouth. Without swallowing purposefully, she turned about, facing Buck, cheeks bulging from the liquid, making her incapable of talking. Throwing the moustached man an innocent look, she pointed to her enlarged cheeks, before shrugging and walking past him. Vin had to stifle a chuckle at the taller man's look of confusion, before he grabbed the bottle of tequila and followed Amy in the direction of their table. Sitting down he began pouring the liquid into the seven empty glasses. After he had finished he looked up to where Amy was stood between Josiah and Nathan's seats, raising his eyebrow and lifting the bottle in her direction. Amy shook her head, but smiled in thanks to the offer. Vin noticed that Buck had regained his seat now, and also his composure it seemed, as he was back on form pestering Amy. All of the men watched, silently entertained at the ladies man's inability to take no for an answer, and to be fair to Buck, he did usually wear them down in the end. However looking at Amy's disapproving expression; Vin surmised this would be a long, if not losing battle for his friend.

"You sure you don' wanna rest those lovely little legs of yours," he winked patting his thigh, "my lap's one of the mightiest comfy places to rest such beautiful ass…ets as your own."

Amy cocked her head slightly at the moustached gunslinger, eyes squinting in both humour and disapproval at the man's thinly veiled lewd comment. She had learnt early on that outright protesting for Buck to stop, only encouraged him further, so now instead she endured his attempts, humouring herself and the others by toying with him sometimes; but mostly she was just waiting for his affections to wain off onto another victim.

"Well, as much as that offer tempts me," she leaned slightly forward, flashing a coy smile at Buck, "and boy, is it tempting, I'm gonna have to decline Buck." Straightening up, she stopped teasing him, and spoke to the rest of the group, "I was only dropping by quickly."

The smile wiped from Buck's face, as he realised, once again, tonight was not going to be his night. Amy smiled as he threw back his shot of tequila, but soon stopped smiling as he faced her again, eyebrows raised in a suggestive manner,

"How about I escort you back to your room then? Not safe for a pretty little creature, such as yourself, to wander around all alone at this hour."

"Probably safer than with him though."

Although Amy had been thinking the exact same thing, the voice that spoke had belonged to Chris. She, along with the rest of the seven looked at him with a grin, even Buck. She had to hand it to him, even though she believed he was serious in his pursuits, he could still take a joke at his expense.

"Reckon I'll take my chances," she smiled at the group, before turning to face Ezra with a wink, "By the way, thanks for the drink Ezra."

The gambler looked gormless for all of a second, before rounding on Vin, who had conveniently lowered his hat over his face, presumably hiding his laughter if the rising and falling of his shoulders were anything to go by. As Amy turned to leave, Nathan stood up beside her,

"Miss Amy, if ya' wouldn't mind, I'd like ta' take a look at how that wound of yours is doing?"

Amy paused for a moment, before nodding at the healer. Tipping his hat to the others, he walked beside Amy, and the others watched as the two left the saloon. As soon as the swing doors closed behind them Chris, J.D, Josiah and Vin erupted into laughter. JD began imitating Buck, cooing over to Ezra, and mockingly suggestively patting his legs, between spurts of laughter,

"Beautiful Ass…ets! Well now I have heard them all from you Buck," Josiah boomed. Buck laughed along, a wistful look on his face,

"I'm telling ya', that girl is somethin' else." Leaning back in his chair, he placed his feet onto Nathan's empty seat, and rocked back slowly on his hind legs.

At this, Ezra's eyes suddenly lit up,

"Is that the clamour of folding I detect in your discourse Mr Wilmington?"

"Hell no, she's only gonna make victory taste sweeter," Buck smile wickedly at J.D, who grinned back earnestly in reply.

"What fiscal wages were we retaining Mr Wilmington? I believe that your endeavour is now situated at more than treble the preliminary wager. At this rate I will recover the amount that was thieved so indecently from me," Ezra's eyes darted over to Vin's grinning face again, who held up his hands in defence,

"Hey, you leave your money out on the table, s'far as I'm concerned it's fair game."

All of a sudden a yell of annoyance cut through the noise of the crowed saloon. As the individuals gathered inside slowly quietened at the continuing noise, Chris stood up from his seat, necking his tequila and placing the glass back down with an audible thud. As he started walking towards the swing doors, the others followed suit. Pushing open the saloon doors, Chris noticed two men directly in front of him, just past the bottom of the steps. Quietly observing what was going on, the other five men filed in around the gunslinger. One of the men looked familiar to them, they were sure he was a local, Ernest, or something. He seemed furious, shouting at the other figure, which didn't look quite so familiar.

"Who do you think you are?!" Ernest, although quite considerably smaller than the stranger, was getting up close and personal to him in his anger. The other figure swayed ever so slightly, before the slurring of his reply fully gave away the state he was in,

"I didnnn' know tha' wasss your hooorse!" He waved his arms frantically in front of him, failing in the direction of the beam that was used to tie horses, "Next time maybeee you shoulddd LABEL itt!"

Vin turned his head to face Chris, his arms folded on top of his right leg which was perched up on the beam, "Great, another drunken dispute…"

"Label it? Label it!" Ernest was now equally as animated as the drunken man, "You idiot! How the hell do ya' label a horse?!"

Sensing the building up in anger, Chris took this as his moment to intervene, stalking down the steps, the black-clad cowboy was about to call out to the men, when another familiar voice beat him to it.

"Excuse me gentlemen, what exactly seems to be the problem here?"

Every man's head swivelled to see Mary Travis walking down the dirt track towards them. She was dressed in a lilac dress, nothing as elaborate as her usual day attire, but still striking on her, even more so in the silver moonlight. As she drew closer, Chris noticed she had a shawl drawn close around her. She had obviously been at home, instead of working, as her hair as completely loose, pale platinum curls, blowing behind her in the reasonable breeze.

"This dumb-ass STOLE my horse!" Ernest bellowed. The larger man ignored him, transfixed by Mary's sudden appearance. Chris narrowed his eyes slightly at him, making a mental note to keep a close eye on him. Mary looked up at the drunken man,

"Is this true, Sir?"

"Nooooooo! Not stealll! Thought it was mine! Mistakeee!" He wobbled, taking a slight step towards Mary to balance himself again. Calmly she looked at the two men, and over to the tying beam,

"Where is the horse now?"

"It ran offfff…" the drunken man hiccupped, before Ernest interjected over the top of him, hysterical now,

"RAN OFF?! HE LET IT GO!"

Chris watched Mary intently. As in control of the situation as she seemed, he decided that it was about time for someone to step in; clearing his throat he gained the attention of the men,

"Well, if that's the case, he has two options. He can either recollect your horse for you, or he can pay ya' for the worth of your horse." Placing his hands on his hips, he looked the drunken man up and down, "But either way, I think it's gonna have ta' wait til morning…."

Ernest, clearly fed up, but knowing this was the best deal he would get out of this situation stormed off away from the gathering without another word.

"You're welcome…" Chris muttered, watching the man sulk away. Turning back to face Mary, Chris saw her smile slightly, and nod her head.

"Well, now that's sorted, goodnight gentlemen."

The six tipped their hats at her as she turned to walk back to her house, but the drunken man had other ideas. Following her before any of the others could stop him; the man grabbed her shoulder, twisting her back around.

"You knowww, you're very pretty lady."

Still calmly looking at the man, Mary managed a small smile,

"Well, thank you. But if you would be so kind as to release my shoulder, I'd quite like to get some sleep now."

Either side of him, she could see the six men advancing on them, eyeing the man up carefully. Turning back around to leave, she found the man's grip increase to an uncomfortable pressure.

"Sir, would you mind letting go of me?"

Though her phrasing was still polite, there was an element of annoyance and panic rising in Mary's voice. Josiah was almost beside the man now, but as he reached out to tap him on the shoulder, the man lurched forwards, grabbing Mary's chin in one hand, and stumbling forward to kiss her. Mary tried to pull away from the man, obvious disgust on her face now, but in doing so the man continued to stumble, before falling on top of her. Chris and Josiah reached him first, almost ripping the man's clothes as they yanked him off Mary. Struggling with them, the man lunged for Mary once more, but by this time Buck was beside her, and managed to pull her aside from his grasp.

"Vin, J.D. Take Mary home!" Chris growled fighting the struggling man, "Now!"

Vin and J.D turned to Mary, who nodded at them, slightly shaking, and covered in dirt. Each taking an arm the men escorted Mary along the street, but not before turning back to glare at the drunken man. The removal of Mary seemed to have a tremendous impact on the drunk. Instead of the staggering, wobbly mess they had seen only minutes ago, the man was now enraged. Letting out a loud roar, the drunk's elbow connected with Chris' knee, hard. Biting back a yell, Chris buckled slightly, giving the man his opportunity, and with ridiculous strength, the drunk head-butted Chris, knocking him to the ground. He was only down for a second, but in that moment everything seemed to happen. It was as if he was watching it in slow motion, firstly Buck and Ezra, had reached for their guns, but at the same time the man's right boot had connected with Buck's stomach, sending him reeling backwards into Ezra. As Buck doubled over on top of Ezra, Josiah fought to grab the man's free arm, but he was too late. The drunk unsheathed a knife from his belt, and began stabbing in Josiah's direction. The first few swipes were unsuccessful as the preacher evaded the jabs aimed at his face, but a blood curdling howl followed, as the drunk successfully pierced flesh. Unconsciously releasing his hold on the man to cradle his injury, Chris was relieved to see that it was only his hand that Josiah was clutching, nothing more serious. Jumping to his feet, Chris reached to draw his own pistol, but instead clutched at air. Realising his weapon must have been un-holstered during his fall, he jabbed forwards, fist connecting with the left side of the drunk's chin. The man wobbled from the hit, but it didn't knock him down.

**BANG!**

The man flew backwards, knocked with the force of the bullet. Looking down the street, Chris saw Vin reload and raise his rifle, ready to take another shot at the man. Staggering over to the still body of the drunk, Chris brought his good leg down onto the man's face. Making sure he was unconscious for sure. As Vin and J.D ran over to help their teammates, Chris looked everyone over. Buck and Ezra seemed okay, dusty and quite probably bruised, but otherwise fine. Josiah was still clutching his hand, growling at the man's limp form. Blood was gushing from the preacher's hand, as J.D rushed to him with a ragged piece of material to try around the gash.

"That doesn't look too good 'Siah."

Looking up at Chris the preacher spoke through gritted teeth, "As much as I'd love to help you guys lock up this son of a bitch, think I'm gonna have to excuse myself of ta' Nathan's."

Chris nodded at his friend, who started walking off towards the medical clinic. Brushing a warm trickle of blood away from his eyes, Chris looked round at his companions,

"Let's give this ass-hole the premium suite for the night."


End file.
